I don't recommend Nietzche...and that's coming from a National Socialist and former philosophy major. His philosophy is in line with the whole existentialist school including Hume and Schopenhauer...men who, when it came down to it, didn't really believe in anything greater than themselves. Existentialist thought is diametrically-opposed to the psyche of the National Socialist state- which stresses duty, honor, and self-sacrifice above all else...and I doubt an existentialist like Nietzche would have lasted an hour in the trenches during WWI or gave his life for the Reich and his people during WWII- bravery is not a virtue in their school of thought. Nietzche, as well as all the other existential thinkers, follow a religion of cowards and egotists. As far as Nietzche's influence on Hitler and the Nazi party I believe its a load of crap. Jewish propaganda at best, created in order to further discredit the moral integrity of the NS movement. I have no respect for a man who believes in nothing greater than himself, so forgive me if I seem over-critical of Nietzche but his writings leave a bad taste in my mouth so to speak. If you want to read some philosophy of good character-building material I advise you to study the Stoics, particularly Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius.

I love reading and has heard alot about this fellow even in connection to national socialists. I was wondering what some opinions of him are, essential reading etc.

I would say reading Nietzsche is essential. It will do you some good.
The Anti-Christ is one you should definitely read.

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Originally Posted by BlutundEhre87

I doubt an existentialist like Nietzche would have lasted an hour in the trenches during WWI or gave his life for the Reich and his people during WWII- bravery is not a virtue in their school of thought.

Nietzsche served in the Franco- Prussian war.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlutundEhre87

I don't recommend Nietzche...and that's coming from a National Socialist and former philosophy major. His philosophy is in line with the whole existentialist school including Hume and Schopenhauer...men who, when it came down to it, didn't really believe in anything greater than themselves.

Nietzsche said he was preparing the way for the overman, die Übermensch.
He hoped for ascending life, a healthier future.
He said that good meant increasing life and evil meant decreasing life.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlutundEhre87

His philosophy is in line with the whole existentialist school including Hume and Schopenhauer...men who, when it came down to it, didn't really believe in anything greater than themselves.

Location: They say that time heals all things, they say you can always forget; But the smiles and tears across the years, they twist my heartstrings yet!

Posts: 4,792

Re: Friedrich Nietzsche books?

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlutundEhre87

I don't recommend Nietzche...and that's coming from a National Socialist and former philosophy major. His philosophy is in line with the whole existentialist school including Hume and Schopenhauer...men who, when it came down to it, didn't really believe in anything greater than themselves. Existentialist thought is diametrically-opposed to the psyche of the National Socialist state- which stresses duty, honor, and self-sacrifice above all else...and I doubt an existentialist like Nietzche would have lasted an hour in the trenches during WWI or gave his life for the Reich and his people during WWII- bravery is not a virtue in their school of thought.

But existentialist thought that is objective and unafraid of preestablished antiquated paradigms allows the idea of man's ability to cross the bridge into being more human, or a higher human. Not making allowances for this honest exposure to the failings of society would allow the herd mentality which relies on faith and on incessant struggles between good and evil, or our constructs of them, to retard unabashed truth and therefore more fratricidal conflict.

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Nietzche, as well as all the other existential thinkers, follow a religion of cowards and egotists. As far as Nietzche's influence on Hitler and the Nazi party I believe its a load of crap. Jewish propaganda at best, created in order to further discredit the moral integrity of the NS movement. I have no respect for a man who believes in nothing greater than himself, so forgive me if I seem over-critical of Nietzche but his writings leave a bad taste in my mouth so to speak. If you want to read some philosophy of good character-building material I advise you to study the Stoics, particularly Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius.

Aurelius's "Meditations" was decent but offered no substantive solutions but merely personal reflections. Study the ancient tragedies, namely Sophocles and Euripides and you'll see men acting in accord with their intrinsic moral code i.e. Oedipus leaving his kingdom after the oracle's prophecy proved true, to wallow in misery, with never considering recanting his promise to dethrone himself.

I'm not a huge fan of Nietzsche but admire his questioning of how we derived our value sets from antiquity and why that has allowed pity to replace power, and therefore depression to exceed the will to power

I can tell there's quite a few Nietzsche fans on here, and that's understandable. I will admit that he did hold some fundamental views on the Aryan race (the "blonde beast") so to speak, as well as on the Jewish question- but just because a writer has a few hints of the truth doesn't make his entire worldview philosophically-sound.

Think about just this one point as far as it relates to National Socialism: one of the pillars of Nietzsche's school of thought is the belief that morality is relative. As Nietzsche himself said “You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.” Here we clearly see that Nietzsche does not belief in absolutes, there is no absolute right or wrong, no black or white according to him. Now, is there anything more inimical to the NS state than to convince the masses that there is no right or wrong?

What are they teaching our kids at the university lecture halls these days? -that there is no right or wrong, that morality is relative. Yet we wonder why our culture has reached a pinnacle of moral depravity! For four years I had to sit through these secular, "humanist" lectures at my university, and I must say that the most liberal college professors I had were usually Nietzsche scholars. Why? Because their immoral lifestyle found its justification in the writings of Nietzsche.

I really don't want to get into a philosophical argument on this subject because frankly I had my fill of it in college- I'm simply giving the original poster of this thread my opinion. I always judge the value of an author by asking myself the following question: "Is this or is this not something I would encourage my kids to read?" In the case of Nietzsche, absolutely not.

I love reading and has heard alot about this fellow even in connection to national socialists. I was wondering what some opinions of him are, essential reading etc.

His connections to National Socialism are overrated. Hitler was a fan of Arthus Schopenhauer: Arthur Schopenhauer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. In fact, Hitler kept a bust of Schopenhauer in his personal residences, and (along with Henry Ford) he was one of only two individuals honored in such a manner by Hitler. To be frank, I would recommend this book for anyone on this website (arguably one of the best books that I've ever read on the man and his habits):

His connections to National Socialism are overrated. Hitler was a fan of Arthus Schopenhauer: Arthur Schopenhauer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. In fact, Hitler kept a bust of Schopenhauer in his personal residences, and (along with Henry Ford) he was one of only two individuals honored in such a manner by Hitler. To be frank, I would recommend this book for anyone on this website (arguably one of the best books that I've ever read on the man and his habits):

Hitler was definitely influenced by Schopenhauer to some degree, though he did not accept his whole philosophy. For example, Schopenhauer's views on marriage and religion were not shared by hitler.

Also I would be very suspicious about the factuality of anything written about Hitler and what influenced his beliefs- being that his personal history is one of the biggest lies in history. But anyway thanks for the amazon link ill probably check out the book anyway..

Think about just this one point as far as it relates to National Socialism: one of the pillars of Nietzsche's school of thought is the belief that morality is relative. As Nietzsche himself said “You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.” Here we clearly see that Nietzsche does not belief in absolutes, there is no absolute right or wrong, no black or white according to him. Now, is there anything more inimical to the NS state than to convince the masses that there is no right or wrong?

Nietzsche here has cleverly pointed out that the absolute way must have a room for leeway, passage for tolerances within the individual. Forcing the individual to have a static and rigid path is not wise. Some folks will need a different path within the path so to speak.

Even in the days of the 3rd Reich if a worker was not suited to something having first gone into a line of work, he would be assigned into something else more suitable for him or her. This is clearly Nietzsche and wisdom.